Space City Scribes

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Susan Johnston Taylor

By Margaret Lea Hi everyone! You don’t want to miss Susan Johnston Taylor at our next chapter meeting on March 2, 2026 . Her presentation is titled “Persevering Past Rejection: Tools and Tips to Save Your Sanity.” This topic should resonate with all of us, writers and illustrators alike. Here’s Susan’s first tip— Don’t jump into the “query trenches,” as so many people call it. Go on a “query quest” instead. Look on querying as an adventure, not a time of being shot at, bombed, and surrounded by death and destruction. Yep, query quest sounds like a much more fun place to hang out! It took Susan seven years and over 400 queries before she found her agent, Mara Cobb at Lighthouse Literary, even though Susan had already sold two picture books to a publisher. Her debut Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems about Earth’s Colorful Creatures came out in 2023 and has won numerous awards. Her ...

Kristen Kiesling

By Margaret Lea Growing up, Kristen Kiesling would watch a crime show and want to be a detective or watch a medical drama and want to be a doctor. Her dad owned a commercial greenhouse in a rural setting, and Kristen thought, even back then, that a compost pile full of worms would be a great place to hide a dead body. She grew up near Tulsa, OK but now lives in Katy and is part of our Houston SCBWI chapter. Kristen heard her fair share of, “You should be a writer,” from teachers throughout the years, but she didn’t see how that could be a viable career, so she got a business degree at University of Oklahoma and worked for IBM. She took a few years off when her kids were born, then got her teaching certification and taught 3rd grade for a couple of years. She has since stopped teaching full time but misses interacting with the kids. She recently became involved with WITS— Writers in the Schools— where she enjo...

By Margaret Lea Many of you already know Julie Hedlund, our January, 2026 speaker. Not only is she a picture book author, she started and runs the 12 X 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge, which helps writers complete a new picture book every month. She began the group in 2012 and had planned for it to be just one year, but it took off and now has about 2,000 members. Shortly after her first two books came out, Julie applied and was accepted into a bootcamp run by her picture book hero, the legendary Jane Yolen. This bootcamp took place at Jane’s home in Massachusetts. Each of the ten or so attendees brought two works-in-progress for Jane to critique. As Julie happened to be the first to arrive, she got the first critique. Jane’s daughter, Heidi Stemple, ushered Julie into a room where Jane was sitting in front of a window. Rays of sunlight created a halo effect around Jane, enhanc...

Selecting Your Target Age Group: Aligning Story Elements with Reader Demographics

By Annika Royston When aiming to be published, it is important to consider which age group can benefit the most from your story’s message. Writing children's books requires packing big lessons into small packages. That’s quite a challenge. An author might have a theme of forgiveness intended for elementary students, unaware that the complexity of their plot is for an older audience. To avoid this mismatch, it helps to focus on four key story elements that ensure your book is aligned with the grade level of your audience: vocabulary and language complexity, theme and subject matter, character development and relatability, and finally, plot structure and pacing . Adjusting each of these elements is the key to concentrating your book with what publishers are looking for in your target demographic. Let’s take a closer look at three of these elements in action: Vocabulary and Language Complexity Word choice and sentence structures are huge elements that need ...

Adam Blackman

By Margaret Lea Adam Blackman, like many children's writers, began by making up stories for and with his young son. A specific incident about ten years ago further propelled Adam into the KidLit space. His Kindergartener son picked out pink, light-up, sparkly rhinestone shoes, but when he wore them to school, even in his progressive Brooklyn, NY neighborhood, several kids asked him why he was wearing “girly” shoes. Adam realized that KidLit was the perfect place to let kids know that everyone should have the freedom to express themselves and not be judged for it. Adam has an MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and worked as a non-profit bookstore manager for seven years. He began engaging with the KidLit community on Twitter after his son’s shoe incident, and he made connections there that led him to writers, agents, editors, mentors and critique groups. Adam stresses that community and networking, especially through SCBWI, can ...

By Margaret Lea Cate Berry, picture book author, will be the speaker at our October 6, 2025 Zoom chapter meeting . She will be speaking on "Secrets to a Long, Unshakeable Career in Publishing." Below is my interview with Cate. For more info on Cate and her work, check out her website at cateberry.com . When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? What most helped you get there? It sounds cliché, but reading is what MOST helped me become a published author. Want to write picture books? Read at least 300 before you even begin drafting. I'm serious. There is a rhythm to picture books, a cadence and a "puzzle element" that's absorbed into your subconscious by reading in bulk. This is also true for middle grade and YA. Try and feel your way into the game. You'll also discover which authors, subjects and subgenres speak to you. It's fun to draft. I get it. But while you're building up your chops, keep reading the form. I have taken classes, t...